1 & 2 Samuel Series Lesson #100

July 18, 2017

Dean Bible Ministries www.deanbibleministries.org

Dr. Robert L. Dean, Jr.

THE NECROMANCER OF EN-DOR; DEMONS AND IDOLATRY

1 SAMUEL 28:3–8

1 Sam. 28:3, “Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.”

1 Sam. 28:3, “Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.”

1 Sam. 25:1, “Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.”

1 Sam. 28:3, “... And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.”

2_bwøa }ov-2 comm masc plur abs “medium, necromancer;” could be male or female, but mostly referred to as female, someone who contacted the dead. [e˙ggastri÷muqoß enggastrimuthos indicating some sort of ventriloquism]

1 Sam. 28:3, “... And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.”

2_bwøa }ov-2 comm masc plur abs “medium, necromancer;” could be male or female, but mostly referred to as female, someone who contacted the dead. [e˙ggastri÷muqoß enggastrimuthos indicating some sort of ventriloquism]

yˆnOo√;dˆy yidde{oni comm masc plur abs “spiritist” Wizard (KJV..); fortune-teller (Berkeley Version, AR); familiar spirit (JPS, NEB); spirit (NEB, NAB); magician (JB); and sorcerer (JB), Since the root of yˆnOo√;dˆy is the verb oådÎy “to know,” implied in the title, therefore, is esoteric knowledge not available to the ordinary person.

1 Sam. 28:3, “... And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.”

The pair }ov and yidde{oni (q.v.) often appear together Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:11; 1 Sam. 28:3, 9; 2 Kings 21:6; 23:24; 2 Chron. 33:6; Isa. 8:19; 19:3

1 Sam. 28:3, “... And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.”

The pair }ov and yidde{oni (q.v.) often appear together Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:11; 1 Sam. 28:3, 9; 2 Kings 21:6; 23:24; 2 Chron. 33:6; Isa. 8:19; 19:3

Lev. 19:31, “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.”

1 Sam. 28:3, “... And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.”

The pair }ov and yidde{oni (q.v.) often appear together Lev. 20:6, “And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Lev. 20:27, “A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ”

Deut. 18:10, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, Deut. 18:11, “or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. Deut. 18:12, “For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.”

“his son or his daughter pass through the fire,” live human sacrifice

witchcraft, MRs®q qesem comm masc plur abs “divination, witchcraft, sorcery, fortune telling, omen, lot, oracle, decision.” ~TWOT

Ezek. 21:21, “For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination [qesem]: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver.Ezek. 21:22, “In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall.”

“his son or his daughter pass through the fire,” live human sacrifice; cf. Lev. 18:21

witchcraft: divination, telling the future

soothsayer: “causing to appear” a form of divination

interprets omens: used various objects, events, or sayings to foretell the future

sorcerer: witchcraft, performed signs to mislead God’s people. Isa. 47:9, 12; Mal. 3:5

conjures spells: capable of casting curses or spells on people

medium: contacted the dead

spiritist: had special, hidden knowledge about the future

Demonism and Idolatry

1. At the foundation of all of this demonic activity is idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of some aspect of God’s creation, and as such is a violation of the first of the ten commandments.

Ex. 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.Ex. 20:4, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;Ex. 20:5, “you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,”

Rom. 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,Rom. 1:21, “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Rom. 1:22, “Professing to be wise, they became fools,Rom. 1:23, “and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”

2. Idolatry can come in two basic forms: internal is the core motivator, the worship of self, and the ideas generated by self; and external, which then transfers those ideas onto some aspect of the creation.Col. 3:5, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

3. Idolatry was the root cause of Israel’s failure.Jer. 3:8, “Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.Jer. 3:9, “So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.”

4. Idolatry is rebellion, which is disobedience to God. This was Saul’s foundational sin.1 Sam. 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft [qesem], and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry [teraphim]. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”

5. Demonism involves different stages or degrees of involvement. There are levels of involvement based on involvement with demon-based activities which include idolatry, which is often frequently connected to demons behind the mythological gods and goddesses.

1 Cor. 10:14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”

Psa. 115:4–7, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak;

Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear;

Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat.”

1 Cor. 10:18, “Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 1 Cor. 10:19, “What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?”

1 Cor. 10:20, “Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.1 Cor. 10:21, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.”

6. So the ultimate issue is in relation to guidance and direction, getting revelation.Deut. 18:13, “You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.Deut. 18:14, “For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.Deut. 18:15, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,”

Deut. 13:1, “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, Deut. 13:2, “and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ Deut. 13:3, “you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

James 4:7, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”